Brokeback Storybrooke
by helebette
Summary: Ok, I don't know what happened there, but THIS is the story I had originally published. Or meant to. Anyhow, it's based on an odd little prompt (sort of) over on tumblr. Regina has a trick played on her, Emma comes to her rescue, you know the rest:)


STUPID computer Ok, I didn't post the right draft on that last try so I'm trying again. Thanks to the guest comment who pointed out the fricktastic issue.

On to the show. If it works…

Brokeback Storybrooke: An Absurd Fairytale.

The call came at 3:17am. Emma had had strange calls before, but this one was a doozy.

"The Wicked Witch…now, now, you can't call her that, not anymore…she…_froze_ you…sort of…" She wrote the name carefully on a yellow pad of paper with her pencil. "Wait, let me…" Emma took a few seconds to slowly sharpen her pencil. It was an important writing instrument, no one should keep her from maintaining her office supplies. Not even an irate woman who happened to be the town's Mayor, shouting on her cell phone, could sway Sheriff Emma Swan from her duty. She'd only been back in her old station for a three hour shift, but still.

The problem was that just that day, they'd had a fight. And during that fight, Regina had rejected Emma's help. So why shouldn't she make her wait? Emma supposed that she was being petty, but whatever. Regina got so far under her skin she wanted to scream sometimes, so if she could inspire that kind of frustration in return, so fucking _be it_.

But then Regina started to cry. She stopped shouting and started talking about a magical spell that somehow stripped her of some of her clothing and stuck her on a horse for the whole town to see come sunrise, or sooner, if any of the super early risers went for a walk.

Emma was out the door and screeching away in her car in minutes, warming it as she drove.

When she arrived in the park at the edge of the woods, Emma's amusement had died completely. Regina was on a giant black stallion who looked equally miserable, and she was…

"Holy shit." Emma muttered.

Regina was topless. Totally naked from the waist up. Topless, wearing dark, tight leather pants, and her legs were sort of glued or something to the side of the horse, while her upper body was rigid and obviously cold and wet. Her hand held a cell phone that she'd shouted into after managing to dial Emma's number somehow.

Without thinking about it, Emma walked briskly to where she stood, and touched her arm. Whoever had done this had done so in order to humiliate the former Queen, and all Emma wanted to do was to somehow fix that. She didn't like any of this. Sure, she'd just been so hurt by her refusal to accept Emma's help, as though she didn't need her, which sucked because Emma _needed_ Regina which…

Woah. That thought caused quite the burst of energy between them.

"Ummmm…" Emma's hand warmed Regina's forearm and broke the first part of the spell. "You ok?"

"You didn't even bring a jacket?" Regina looked Emma up and down, crossing her arms quickly. "You're getting wet as well."

"Well, yeah, uh, I thought it was warm enough." Emma's voice trailed off just as the horse suddenly neighed loudly. She backed up as the creature's body slowly started to unfreeze, while Regina leaned and spoke softly to it, caressing its long mane and muscled neck. Then, suddenly, the horse started bucking and running in circles around the park. Emma could only watch helplessly as Regina crouched low on its back and tried to ride the crisis out.

It was a sort of a revelation, watching Regina handle the animal. The way she soothed it, the kindness in her actions.

And then she was off, riding the frightened animal into the woods.

"Goddammit!" Emma shouted above a new onslaught of rain. She left her car and started walking through muddy grass and sharp rocks. The horse was neighing in the distance and she could smell wood smoke. "A fucking forest fire and a hot naked woman running amok on a horse." She found herself muttering. "Another weird as _shit_ night in Storybrooke." Her boot kicked awkwardly against a sharp rock that was half embedded in soil but just a little loose. Unfortunately, the slick ground wasn't helping matters, so she ended up sliding and then falling hard on her left side. When Emma tried to get back up again, the rains came ever harder and she slipped and fell again.

Just then, the sound of hooves could be heard, even overtop the storm. It was Regina, and from a distance she looked…

Absurd. Still topless, still wearing leather, and still riding a fucking horse.

Emma started laughing her ass off in the mud.

Thankfully, Regina could see the ridiculousness of her situation and she kept riding closer. When she reached out a hand, Emma took it and found herself hauled up behind her.

The ride was long. It might have had something to do with how uncomfortable the saddle was, given that it was thrumming on her crotch in the most confusing way every time the horse walked. Or, maybe it was just because Emma was cold and wet and basically pressed to Regina's naked back. By the time they got to the cabin that was apparently Regina's destination, Emma was a mess. But even though she was in a haze of hormones and fatigue, the first words out of her mouth were:

"I wish you wouldn't speak to me the way you do sometimes."

Regina stopped and turned her head slightly, giving a terse but quick nod. "I…ok. I'm sorry."

"No problem." Emma replied quietly. "Thanks." She added, watching as Regina jumped down from the horse and led it toward a barn. Emma waited politely, despite the rain, until Regina came back outside and waved her into the cabin.

Inside, a massive fire was roaring, and Emma could see that Regina had begun to put away bags of groceries.

"So why were you out here at such an odd hour?" Emma asked, politely averting her eyes. It didn't work for long though. She kept peeking. Regina still hadn't put on a shirt and those leather pants hugged her ass in all the right places.

"I was working on my protection spells. Which, obviously, somebody decided to make light of." Regina turned to say something else but stopped short and snorted with laughter instead. "Emma…_really_…"

"Sorry." She wasn't. It couldn't be helped.

"Mhmmm…" Regina stepped closer, her arms defiantly crossed.

Their eyes met and Emma felt her cheeks warm. There was an excessive amount of staring going on here.

Then Regina said something hilarious…

"It's not like you haven't seen them before." Well, it was hilarious to Regina. She uncrossed her arms and stepped right into Emma's space, sliding her palms over Emma's shoulders and pulling her close for a long-awaited kiss.

"Yeah." Emma swallowed her sudden nervousness. This was new. Really, wonderfully new. "But I haven't seen them in hours." Her voice was a little whiney and she cleared her throat to rectify the situation. "Sorry you were out there like that. Are you ok?"

"I'm fine. Better now." Regina burrowed into the hug she was offered. "Thanks for saving me, _yet_ again." She sounded frustrated, so Emma crossed her hands over her back and squeezed harder. It always did the trick.

They ended up by the fire, sharing a blanket after Emma tugged off her own wet clothes. It might have been romantic or a turn-on, but they were both cold and damp and just wanted to get warm. Regina's leather pants were hung carefully at a distance but Emma kept glancing back at them.

"Why do you have so many extra clothes?" Emma wondered. "Why don't I ever see things like that? It's like you're leading a double life."

"I'm not. They're just leftovers from another time. Another place." Regina answered.

"Hmm. I see." Emma frowned pensively. "And again, why this place? Is this yours? Why haven't you told me about it?"

"I thought we could use it as a love nest once I was finished casting terrible spells."

It took awhile for Emma to realize that it was a joke. "Haha." She sighed. "Well we never have any space for ourselves, it's true. We could use a little hideaway." Emma slipped her arm around Regina's waist, suddenly very very happy that they did have a moment alone.

"Of course we could always move in like some wonderful stereotype which, really, _isn't_ fair," Regina stared thoughtfully at a spot high on the wall. "I'm sure that Charming and your mother moved in together quite quickly upon realizing that they were destined to be together and blahblahblah…"

Emma ignored the rest and blurted out, "Why don't we?" Feeling bold now. Still, her hand shook a little and she found herself wringing the corner of her blanket.

"Hmmmm?" Came Regina's humdrum reply. She looked curious though, which wasn't a bad start. "You'll have to figure out what you want, first."

"I know what I want." Emma grumbled. She pulled her side of the blanket tighter.

"No, you don't. You were engaged to that…_Walsh _person, ten, fifteen minutes ago? Now you want to move in with me?" Regina's question was calm, rhetorical, but it wasn't hard to hear the bite beneath her words when Emma's former fiancé's name was mentioned.

"It sounds fast when you put it that way." Emma replied. "Jeez…" She looked at Regina with a sudden frown. "Jealous much? First the paranoia about Neal when he first showed up, then the crack about Hook being my boyfriend…"

"I'm not jealous." Regina interrupted, her voice becoming suddenly cold. Then she smirked. "Besides, what about you?"

"We're not discussing me." Now Emma could feel her cheeks heat. "We are not discussing…no…" But Regina's hand had moved from her knee up to her thigh. "I'm…"

"You're what? Jealous? It's charming. You're charming. Charming. What a silly thing to call you." Regina was rambling but she was also kissing Emma's neck in between each word, so it was ok. Emma tilted her head back, still watching the fire as Regina trailed her lips over her throat.

Not long after, Emma lay on her back, one hand on Regina's chest while the other moved between her thighs. "Touch yourself too…" She encouraged quietly. Sometimes Regina could really get going in this position but she could also get frustrated—thighs burning, hand digging into Emma's arm, rising and falling hard and fast on the three fingers that twisted and curled inside her. Emma resisted the urge to touch her breasts, instead nudging Regina's chin until their eyes met. "Don't be jealous…" She said quietly. "Or do, if you must, it's only human. But just know that you're all I want…"

With that, Regina did reach between them, leaning to kiss Emma roughly while she circled her own clit. She was quiet but clenched so hard against Emma's fingers when she came that Emma yelped.

"Thanks…" Regina breathed hard against her neck then held Emma's wrist in place when she tried to take her hand back. "Wait…" There was a small wave and this time she moaned.

The sound alone was almost enough to set Emma off. Almost. But she didn't feel all that rushed. When Regina tried to twist her hand around between them, Emma grasped her lower back and pressed their bodies together.

"Hey." Regina protested weakly, blinking as though the late hour had finally hit her. She pulled back enough to pull her arm away and then relaxed her weight on Emma's body.

"Hey yourself. I'm fine." Emma replied. "How about later? I should get back to work."

"Oh. Must you?" Then, Regina really poured it on. She practically purred against Emma's neck, finding the most sensitive place she could, right on the line of muscle that could be bit and licked firmly, evoking a frustrated groan.

"Really." Emma gasped. Her hands kneaded Regina's hips and she let herself buck up against her for just a moment—just long enough to build anticipation. "Gotta go." She smirked, ducking her head away from Regina's questing lips.

"Fine. I'll see you at home." Regina hesitated over the word. _Home_. Home was what they'd found together. Sure, they weren't sharing an actual residence yet, but Emma had a key and she could always find her way to Regina's when things got crowded at her parents'. "You'll sleep in the guestroom with the heavy curtains and I'll feed you a late lunch at 2pm. Sharp. You need to stop doing these ridiculous night shifts."

"Bossy, much? Besides, you're the one running around practicing magic at all hours…" Emma barely had time to get the words out before she was magically transported back to the Sheriff's station. Thankfully, Regina's little spell had somehow clothed her on her way. She only had a couple of hours left and she threw herself into paperwork even though it didn't seem to have much of a point behind it.

The sun had just risen when Emma handed her shift off to Deputy Lacroix, a man who had supposedly been one of Regina's old guards. As she left the building, Emma waved and smiled at five of the Seven Dwarfs (Happy had been fired from what she'd heard) who marched up the sidewalk on their way to Granny's. Her car was parked around the side of the building, away from the row of police vehicles that were kept readied for whatever bizarre things might come. Emma reached into her pocket for her key and had it halfway into the lock before spotting the sleeping woman in her backseat.

It didn't take long to drive to Regina's, but it sure did take a long ass time to actually wake the woman herself up. She was grumpy and sniffling and apparently taking the day off work to fight off a cold in bed.

After foraging in Regina's gigantic fridge, Emma threw together an omelet and juiced oranges while Regina poked sleepily at the toaster. After they ate, Emma cleaned up quickly, shooing Regina ahead of her upstairs while she washed their dishes. At the last moment, just as she was ringing out the sponge and putting it in its holder, Emma turned to see just who was staring so hard at the middle of her back.

"Why aren't you up in bed?" Emma asked, confused at the sight of Regina still standing in the doorframe.

"I was just watching…" the look on Regina's face was ridiculous. She looked at Emma like the other woman was some rare, precious thing. "Ok." Regina added, rather vaguely.

"Ok…what?" Emma asked as they made their way together.

"Just…ok to all of it." Regina sounded far away and dreamy still. By the time they had climbed into her bed, she was looking at Emma again in that odd way.

They hadn't said the 'L' word yet. Sure, they were talking about shacking up, but that was just about convenience, Emma figured. It felt like the most solid thing she'd ever walked into, this relationship, and for all sorts of reasons, _that_ was the feeling that counted more than any other. She was secure and safe and this was home, and their son was happy, and it was better already than anything she'd had before. And yes, she did love Regina, but saying it out loud was weird and sort of hard…

"I love you too." Regina muttered when Emma's words somehow, apparently, leaked from her thoughts and into Regina's wavelength.

"Oh. That's really…" Emma swallowed hard when Regina turned in her arms and held on tightly. "Me too."

"I know." Regina sighed. "You're impossible. Let's go to sleep. Perhaps by this evening, you'll have found something more poetic to say to me." She was out like a light moments later, punctuating her fatigue and soon-to-be full blown cold with a snore.

It was a sound that made Emma chuckle and tear up at once. She stored it away with all of the other small moments that made her heart swell. The small moments were sometimes easier to deal with than the big ones.

They'd gone to bed in just their underwear so Emma was able to slide her bare legs against Regina's. She started to imagine all the ways she might get payback for the night before, as soon as Regina was feeling better again. As she fell asleep, finally unwinding from her night, she laughed quietly at the thought of surprising Regina in the stables one day. And she had an old pair of leather pants that would do just the trick.


End file.
